Diet and Exercise: Modulating Gut Microbiota for Enhanced Physiological Function

In the realm of health sciences, recent findings underline the significant role of gut microbiota in enhancing physiological functions via diet and exercise. Research has demonstrated that moderate physical exercise positively impacts gut biodiversity, boosting the population of beneficial bacteria crucial for energy metabolism, immune responses, and neuroendocrine regulation. Despite these advances, the intricacies of how gut health influences overall physiological outcomes, particularly in response to exercise, remain a field of active investigation with considerable gaps in comprehensive mechanistic understanding.

This Research Topic aims to enhance the current understanding of the interaction between gut microbiota, diet, and exercise in improving exercise performance and general health. It seeks to delve into how changes in gut bacteria due to physical activity and dietary modifications affect physiological functions like muscle metabolism, oxidative stress resilience, and neuroendocrine activities. Moreover, the goal is to ascertain the specifics of dietary practices that benefit gut health during physical activities, exploring the roles of macronutrients and microbial supplements such as probiotics and synbiotics in augmenting exercise outcomes.

To gather further insights in the bounds of dietary and exercise impact on gut microbiota, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Advances in probiotic and prebiotic supplementation and their effects on exercise performance

• Mechanistic studies on the microbiota-gut-brain axis response to physical activity

• Clinical and preclinical outcomes of gut microbiota modulation through dietary strategies

• Impact of different exercise intensities and regimens on gut microbiota composition

• Detailed analysis of the nutrition-microbiota-exercise interaction and its implications for health recommendations

With a focus on combining experimental and observational research, this Research Topic hopes to illuminate the pathways through which gut microbiota can be optimized to support physiological enhancements through tailored diet and exercise regimes.

Keywords: gut microbiota, exercise, diet, probiotics, prebiotics, physiological function

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.